| Brief Guide to Frankfurt |
| 1. Römerberg |
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Frankfurt lost almost all of its splendid old town centre, the Römerberg, to bombing in the Second World War. Taking its name from the Römer, a building on the site of a Roman merchant's warehouse, the Römerberg focussed on a large market square where massive trade fairs were held in medieval times - major events in the medieval calendar. It remains the historic heart of Frankfurt to this day - in striking contrast to the skyscrapers of the Westend, Frankfurt's powerful financial district - but the beautiful half-timbered houses that make it look authentically medieval are reconstructions dating from the 1980s. At the eastern end of the square is the Dom Sankt Bartholomaüs (Cathedral of St Bartholomew), a 14th and 15th-century Gothic building in red sandstone, much-restored after little more than the tower and the outer walls had survived the bombs. Although called the Dom (cathedral), it has never been a bishop's seat. It is also called the Kaiserdom (Emperor's cathedral) because this is where the Holy Roman Emperors were chosen by the seven Electors (in its Wahlkapelle, the 'Chapel of Selection') and where they were crowned from 1562 until the late 18th century. At the western end of the square is the Römer, which in 1405 (along with the two neighbouring buildings) became the Town Hall; only the impressive, step-gabled façades are original. Inside was the Kaisersaal (Emperors' Hall; reconstructed), where imperial coronations were celebrated with colossal feasts. On the south side of the square is the charming little Alte Nikolaikirche (Old St Nicholas's Church), formerly the court chapel, a Romanesque building dating from the 13th century, and later dressed in a distinctive style of Gothic. In vivid contrast is the Schirn Kunsthalle (or 'Kultur-Schirn'), which lies between the Nikolaikirche and the Dom. Built in 1986 as a cultural centre to house temporary exhibitions, and uncompromisingly modern, it has been given several disparaging nicknames, including the 'Federal Bowling Alley' and 'Murder at the Cathedral'. Nonetheless, it hosts major art exhibitions of the kind that commands international attention. www.dom-frankfurt.de (German only) www.schirn-kunsthalle.de |
| 2. Museum für Moderne Kunst |
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This is a treat for all aficionados of modern art: a museum, located just to the north of the 'Dom', which houses an excellent cross-section of international art since the 1960s. The Museum für Moderne Kunst (Museum for Modern Art, MMK for short) has work by Francis Bacon, Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Claes Oldenburg, Josef Beuys, Bruce Nauman, Nam June Paik, Bill Viola - in other words, all the usual suspects, plus many interesting others. The building itself is also a work of art in the same vein: a wedge-shaped post-modern construction completed in 1991, and affectionately nicknamed the 'Tortenstück' ('slice of cake') by locals.
www.mmk-frankfurt.de |
| 3. Städelmuseum |
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The River Main (pronounced 'mine') runs through Frankfurt, hence its full name Frankfurt am Main (on the Main), to distinguish it from the other, smaller Frankfurt an der Oder. On the south bank of the River Main, along the Schaumainkai, stands a highly distinguished string of museums, giving rise to the collective label 'Museumsufer' (the 'museum embankment'). The most distinguished of all these is the art gallery called the Städelmuseum, or 'Städel' for short, named after the man who founded it in 1818, banker Johann Friedrich Städel. This is one of those delightful galleries that is compact and manageable, and where everything on view is of very high class. The collection has an intriguing background: it was originally put together for an art school to provide a selection of work that the pupils might study and learn from. It includes paintings by the great German masters of the Renaissance, such as Lucas Cranach, Mathis Grünewald, Albrecht Dürer, Hans Holbein (Elder and Younger) and Hans Baldung Grien, plus work by the many of great stars of Flanders and the Netherlands (Jan van Eyck, Roger van der Weyden, Rubens, Rembrandt, Vermeer), and Italy (Fra Angelico, Mantegna, Botticelli, Canaletto). The 20th-century collection includes paintings by the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists (Renoir, Monet, Degas, Cézanne) and the German Expressionists (Nolde, Kirchner).
www.staedelmuseum.de |
| 4. Museum für Angewandte Kunst |
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Also among the line-up on the Museumsufer is the Museum für Angewandte Kunst (Museum of Applied Arts). Housed in a striking building designed (in his trademark white) by the American architect Richard Meier, completed in 1985, it presents a fascinating collection of artefacts - furniture, tapestry, carpets, ceramics, glass, jewellery, books, lighting - from around the world (including Chinese, Japanese and Islamic pieces), starting in the 12th century and ending with the ultra-contemporary
www.museumfuerangewandtekunst.frankfurt.de (German only) |
| 5. Liebieghaus Museum of Sculpture |
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The Liebieghaus is a former private villa and garden, also on the Museumsufer, that once belonged to the textile magnate Baron Heinrich von Liebieg. Since 1907 it has been the home of a remarkable collection of European sculpture - one of the best of its kind - beginning with the ancient Mesopotamians and leading up to the Neoclassical era of the early 19th century. Among the many astonishing works here are pieces by the great German sculptors of the 15th and 16th centuries, such as Tilman Riemenschneider and Nicolaus Gerhaerts - work that combines remarkable realism with profound emotional intensity.
www.liebieghaus.de (German only) |
| 6. Goethe-Haus and Goethe-Museum |
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Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) - poet, playwright, scientist, philosopher - is considered to be the greatest of all German writers, an outstanding literary figure with a Europe-wide reputation in his lifetime. He was born in Frankfurt and lived here until the age of 26, when he relocated to Weimar. His birthplace has been faithfully and convincingly restored (following bomb damage in the war), to make it look as it did in the mid-18th century. Next door is the Goethe-Museum, with a picture collection devoted to the 'Age of Goethe'.
www.goethehaus-frankfurt.de |
| 7. Palmengarten |
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This fine botanical garden forms part of an extensive area of parkland (including the Grüneburgpark) that lies about 20 minutes (on foot) to the north-east of the city centre. First established in 1863, it has impressive beds of seasonal flowers (notably the bulbs in the spring and roses in the summer), as well as large hothouses containing tropical plants. These include the original and recently renovated Palmenhaus of 1869 (palms), and the modern Tropicarium (orchids, bromeliads, ferns, cacti).
www.palmengarten.frankfurt.de |
| 8. Karmeliterkloster |
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The Carmelite Monastery, built 1460-1520, is a sanctuary from the hubbub of modern Frankfurt, a reminder of other, timeless values. Among the fine Gothic architecture is one of northern Europe's most important and largest frescoes (1514-17), depicting the history of the Carmelite Order, by the Jörg Ratgeb (1480-1526); he was soon to meet his cruel fate, hanged, drawn and quartered in Pforzheim for his part in the Peasants' War. Although badly damaged in the Second World War, the fresco has been recently restored. Attached to the monastery is an Institute for City History and, in a modern building, a Museum of Archaeology (Greek and Roman to early Middle Ages, and early Asian).
www.archaeologisches-museum.frankfurt.de (German only) |
| 9. Shopping in the Goethestrasse |
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To the north of the Römerberg is Frankfurt's main shopping street called the Zeil, largely an all-too-familiar urban drag of chain shops. But just to the west of this is the Goethestrasse, the city's smartest shopping street, with top-rank fashion boutiques and jewellers. Foodies will love the Grosse Bockenheimer Strasse, just to the north, a street famed for its stylish eateries and delicatessens (with clientele to match) and nicknamed the 'Fressgasse' ('Guzzle Alley').
www.goethestrasse-frankfurt.de/anlieger.html |
| 10. Sachsenhausen |
| To find some old-world calm in Frankfurt, go to Sachsenhausen, the quarter to the south of the river (which includes the Museumsufer). Alt Sachsenhausen - the old part, around the Affentorplatz (to the southeast of the Museum für Angewandte Kunst) - has plenty of welcoming bars and restaurants, and is famed above all for its folksy taverns serving the traditional drink Apfelwein (apple wine), known locally as Ebbelwei or Ebbelwoi. This is served in a variety of forms according to its age and fermentation, often mixed with fizzy water, and is traditionally accompanied by a plate of cheese with bread and onions ('Handkäs mit Musik'), or a pork chop with sauerkraut ('Rippchen mit Kraut'). Ebbelwei is something of a cult-pursuit in Frankfurt: a tourist tram called the 'Ebbelwei-Express' offers one-hour trips around the city - with complementary apple wine. |
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